ASUS GTX 970; STRIX VS Turbo; watercooled or not

[UltraFireFX]

Hey guys, I'm planning on getting an ASUS GTX 970 4GB. The store I am getting it at is set in stone (I will get Tom Clancy's: The Division and Far Cry: Primal); I could get the STRIX model for $579 or I could get the Turbo model for $549, I was also considering water-cooling the card as I have heard graphics cards get a huge temperature advantage when water-cooled and was thinking of possibly overclocking it.

My questions today are:
- Which card should I choose and why?
- Should I water-cool the card any why?
- Should I overclock the card and why?

Thanks for your time.
- UltraFireFX.

 

[ar2uro]

Take the turbo - if you plan to watercool - its cheaper, the only thing the Strix has going for it is the higher base clock & boost clock, as well as a better cooler (and the DIGI+ VRM too, but thats not that important, though it does supposedly 2.5x the cards longevity). If you watercool and overclock, those don't matter very much. Take the Strix if you don't want to overclock/watercool.
If you can afford watercooling - do it, provides overclocking advantage.
Yes, overclock, its easy to do on gpus.

 

[UltraFireFX]

Take the turbo - if you plan to water-cool - its cheaper, the only thing the Strix has going for it is the higher base clock & boost clock, as well as a better cooler (and the DIGI+ VRM too, but that's not that important, though it does supposedly 2.5x the cards longevity). If you water-cool and overclock, those don't matter very much. Take the Strix if you don't want to overclock/water-cool.
If you can afford water-cooling - do it, provides overclocking advantage.
Yes, overclock, its easy to do on gpus.

So if I've got this right you are recommending that I do overclock as it's easy to do on gpus and if I do overclock to grab the turbo, otherwise I should grab the STRIX? Can you explain the DIGI+ VRM a bit more?

 

[Tradesman1]

I like the Strix cards but can go with it or the Turbo, I'd also play with whichever before deciding on watercooling. Get to know the card first, see how it OCs on air, if it doesn't OC for crap then it's rather pointless to invest money in water cooling. 😉

 

[Epicness937]

i got two 970 strix and im very happy with both

 

[Gam3r01]

Most of the time with newer maxwell cards water cooling simply isnt needed. Get the Strix, OC it on air and call it a day.
Look at it this way, for additional cost of water cooling you could just buy a superior card.

 

[Epicness937]

Most of the time with newer maxwell cards water cooling simply isnt needed. Get the Strix, OC it on air and call it a day.
Look at it this way, for additional cost of water cooling you could just buy a superior card.

that is true unless you are doing hevey overclocking there is no need for watercooling and even then its still not worth it
the only time water cooling is ever good on a maxwell card is on a titan x if you are foolish and get one

 

[UltraFireFX]

Most of the time with newer maxwell cards water cooling simply isnt needed. Get the Strix, OC it on air and call it a day.
Look at it this way, for additional cost of water cooling you could just buy a superior card.

But what if I got the Turbo, overclocked it and water cooled it?

 

[Epicness937]

Most of the time with newer maxwell cards water cooling simply isnt needed. Get the Strix, OC it on air and call it a day.
Look at it this way, for additional cost of water cooling you could just buy a superior card.

But what if I got the Turbo, overclocked it and water cooled it?

if you want but there is no point for that price you might as well get a 980

 

[Gam3r01]

Your OC would likely level out at a similar point (a few FPS difference at best) and you would spend a few hundred extra for it.

 

[UltraFireFX]

Most of the time with newer maxwell cards water cooling simply isnt needed. Get the Strix, OC it on air and call it a day.
Look at it this way, for additional cost of water cooling you could just buy a superior card.

But what if I got the Turbo, overclocked it and water cooled it?

if you want but there is no point for that price you might as well get a 980

Well if you shop here a GTX 980 is 40% more expensive than a GTX 970.

 

[UltraFireFX]

I've decided I'm going to get the GTX 970 STRIX and not water-cool it, probably overclock it. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[ar2uro]

^ good solution

 

[UltraFireFX]

^ good solution

Well it was the most accurate solution and it was rather fast compared to the other ones. 😛

 

[Epicness937]

I've decided I'm going to get the GTX 970 STRIX and not water-cool it, probably overclock it. Thanks for everyone's help!

sounds good hope it works well

 

[UltraFireFX]

I've decided I'm going to get the GTX 970 STRIX and not water-cool it, probably overclock it. Thanks for everyone's help!

sounds good hope it works well

Thanks! I'll try to post back here once I've assembled my rig! 😛